Cadbury Drink Sale Delayed

Cadbury Schweppes PLC has extended the bidding on the sale of its beverage brands in the face of last week’s tumultuous debt market problems.

The beverage and candy maker had planned to spin off noted brands like Dr Pepper, 7Up and Snapple to one of two private equity groups, one led by the Blackstone Group and KKR and another run by Bain Capital Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners, as part of an auction on Friday. The spinoff had been pushed by investor Nelson Peltz, who had built up an influential stake in the company.

The auction will still take place, likely in a few weeks, according to a company release that indicated the problems with debt market volatility had hurt the solidity of some of the bids. "A decision has been taken to extend the sale timetable to allow bidders to complete their proposals against a more stable debt financing market," the comapny stated in a release.